Elle Magazine does its annual “Women In Hollywood” issue every November. The issue usually has multiple covers and cover ladies and Elle tries to do a variety (in ages, races, etc) of actresses. This year’s issue is devoted to Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Melissa McCarthy and Reese Witherspoon. Not-so-surprisingly, Melissa is my favorite and I LOVE the photo of her so much. I love Melissa with a big blow-out!! She looks sexy. Shailene is still pretty annoying and Reese is drunk whatever. I don’t really think Penelope is ever an interesting interview but holy hell is she beautiful. Look at her closeup cover – is she even wearing any makeup? So many freckles! Anyway, here are some highlights from the interviews:

Reese Witherspoon, on what inspired her to begin producing movies:
“I started noticing a couple years ago that I wasn’t seeing women as the stars of movies. I’m seeing them as the guys’ girlfriends, or so-and-so’s wife. I just thought: God, if I don’t start buckling down and start producing some movies, what’s my daughter going to see in the movies?”

Reese Witherspoon, on how her children changed her life:
“Somebody was saying to me the other day, ‘Oh, people get less interesting when they have kids.’ I just don’t think that’s true. I feel like I was so confused before I had kids, I almost got in my own way. Having kids made me clearer about who I was as a woman. I just wanted to exhibit good qualities for my daughter. I was a little competitive before I had kids- probably really competitive, to be honest. It really made me let go of that.”

Melissa McCarthy, on playing nontraditional female comedic leads:
“A lot of times, women have had all their tools taken away (in Hollywood comedies). It’s like you’re never inappropriate, you have the greatest job, you look great, your hair is amazing, and now go be funny. And it’s like, with what? You have to fall down for us to want to watch you get back up. And it’s like they never let you watch women fall down.”

Melissa McCarthy, on which comediennes she enjoys watching:
“I watch Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Veep and she is so good, because she is playing the world’s biggest a–hole narcissist, and yet you can’t take your eyes off of her. In fact, you still strangely like her and almost want to hang with her.”

Penelope Cruz, reflecting on her Hollywood stardom:
“The concept of a ‘star’ will always sound foreign and surreal to me because growing up in my country, you’re an actor, not a star.”

Penelope Cruz, on the best piece of career advice she’s ever received:
“How important it is to learn to say no. You’re going to have to put a lot of your time into a project, and you have to know if it’s something you really feel connected with, because it’s not a job you can do like you press a button- no.”

Shailene Woodley, on staying true to herself in Hollywood:
“There’s nothing like walking into a meeting and people expecting me to shake hands, and you hug them. For me, a hug is to disregard all of that bulls–t and be like, This is me, Shai. This is who I am. Now let’s talk about real situations. Let’s not talk about all this surface-level stuff.”

Shailene Woodley, on the next five years:
“I’m so young, and I’m single, and I just want to drift. I’m just going to be a drifter. I want to do something totally different before Insurgent [the second film in the Divergent trilogy]. Maybe I’ll work in a tea shop. Or live in Amsterdam. Or be a nanny. Life experience only helps us as actors. I need new experiences to draw upon.”

[From Elle]

“Now let’s talk about real situations. Let’s not talk about all this surface-level stuff.” Jeez, can’t we talk about superficial stuff for just a second? Like, how’s the weather? The humidity really dropped off, didn’t it? And now, let’s talk about how annoying it is that you hug every person you meet. You’re trying too hard, Shailene. There’s some under-the-surface stuff.

As for Melissa’s quotes… god, I love that woman. She’s amazing.

Photos courtesy of Nico & Thomas Whiteside/ELLE.